Rumpkinz Charm Pads Mama Cloth

  When I first heard about"mama cloth" or cloth pads, my first thought was, no thank you. A few years later, I was reading an article on mama cloth. I thought because I had been using a chlorine free pad that was good enough. But everywhere I turned in the "green" world, I kept reading about how great they are. So I will be honest, I wasn't entirely sold on the idea, however I wanted to try them. After all I have been using cloth diapers for years.
  I tried a big named brand, a not so big name brand and I made a couple of my own, boy I will tell you, a seamstress I am not!
  Rumpkinz Charm Pads reached out and offered one of their new Charm Pads for review. I was thrilled when I received my Charm Pads Cloth Pad. It was so pretty, even my daughters commented.  We have 2 teen girls so they also took part in this review. We all thought the Rumpkinz Charm Pads was almost to cute to use. We were all afraid of staining.  But I am happy to report after several uses, it is as pretty as when we first received it.

What woman or teen wouldn't want to spoil themselves with a "pretty" during her cycle.

The length and width of the Rumpkinz Charm Pads Is perfect. With the big name brand i had previously tried they were all far to short and would cause leakage off the back end onto our panties. The homemade pads I made were so long my daughters said they felt like they were wearing a diaper, ha I told you I was not a seamstress.

I thought when I first brought up the idea of changing over to cloth pads

my daughters would not want to either, cleaning and wet bags and all. But they were both all for it. Especially after using the Charm Pads. It is so absorbent, perfect length and super cute. I would recommend Rumpkinz Charm Pads to a seasoned cloth wearing mama or to a mother first introducing cloth pads to their daughters. After all they are so much better for all of us women, and the environment as well.

Rumpkinz Charm Pads has so graciously offered you a chance to one of their awesome Charm Pads when they reach 200 likes on their Facebook Page so head on over Like their page and share about the giveaway by sharing their photo and posting "liked & shared" :-) Super Easy Good Luck

The Best Baby Bed Ever Made

I am a cosleeper through and through. I have slept with all of my children. However, I have also always had a bed or own, to be put in each night. That way my husband and I canhave a few minutes to cuddle. In the past, we have tried several different ways of doing this. From cribs, to swings to the amby to a bassinet. It seemed though, more often then not, I would go to lay them down and they would wake right up. It wad a rare night if we would get more than 5 minutes if any at all. I had tried swaddling,  wrapping in one of my shirts, and I always made sure they were in a deep sleep. Still they would wake right up. Until the Baby Cradle Crib Hammock!

sorry it was at night so the picture is the best.

I know I shared on this Hammock about a year ago, but I had to again because it is working out so well for us. We love it! My husband said that he would like one for us :-) Orchid can be put in her Hammock each night and tends to sleep for a couple of hours every night! That may not seem like much but it is huge for us. Also if I weren't so lazy (just trying to be honest) I feel I could put her back to bed in the Hammock if I wanted and she would sleep longer.

And a very cool aspect Is that there is all of that open space below it and it is easily moveable. It hangs from the ceiling.

so if we wanted we could easily move the hammock from room to room.

Our older girls even enjoy getting in the hammock.

I highly reccomend the Baby Cradle Hammock. 

You can find them on ebay Here

My Breastfeeding Journey, Not Always An Easy One

  My breastfeeding journey started almost 14 years ago, when I had my first daughter at 17. I knew I wanted to breastfeed, and I knew how important it was, but the problem was that I didn't know how. I thought breastfeeding was this natural, easy, just happens kind of thing. I was dead wrong! At the hospital, the nurses assured me I was doing it right, and that it was normal to cause pain, not just discomfort but pain. I was to embarrassed (imagine that) to allow my mom to help when I got home. So it was only a few days before I had given up. And boy did I go through the ringer while drying up. I look back now and can't believe I didn't get mastitis. I remember sleeping with dish towels in my night gown, with rock hard, engorged breasts.
  Skip forward a few years and I had another daughter. Only this time I was bound and determined. I began having the same problem yet again. Only this time I called a La Leche Leader. She gave me advice over the phone, which, no offense to her, helped me at all. I stuck through it for several weeks, until the pain got unbearable. I can remember sitting on the edge of my bed looking at my precious little baby nursing, and cringing my toes on the floor, being in so much pain I felt like throwing her against the wall. (Side note, no I did not EVER hurt any of my kids, no suffer from postpartum depression, I was just in pain with cracked and bleeding nipples)  I wanted to give up, I wanted to be done. I had a couple of bottles and sample formula that I tried to give her. Well thank God she couldn't grasp the concept, the little bugger :-) She kept sucking away but the nipple kept con caving so she couldn't get anything. I sent my husband to the store to buy a different kind. Much to my dismay/relief he came home rather with a tube of Lansinoh Lanolin. I admit I was not happy at first, yet impressed all the same. I had never heard of it back then. I would slather that stuff on before nursing and after. It was all I could do to get through it. Praise God by the time I was done with the entire large tube my body had adjusted to the way she was nursing and I was fine. I began going to La Leche League meetings, and loved them. I did learn she was latched on improperly. But I tried to fix her latch but she never changed.
   Skip another few years, and we come to another daughter. I had my daughter at home this time, and felt prepared, with having La Leache under my belt and a tube of Lansinoh just in case. Yet again, I knew she was latched wrong but couldn't seem to fix it. I called a leader and she came to my house this time. She got her latched on right and I was thrilled. (she also talked me into becoming a leader myself) However my dear little daughter went right back to latching wrong, despite my best efforts to do exactly as I was taught. I again delt with it, using Lansinoh and was able to stick with it. I became a leader, and found it amusing that I was helping women and couldn't even get my own child latched on. Warning I am about to say something unkind, Some days with some women, I just felt like saying, "if you really wanted to, you would just deal with it, I did"  But I never did.
   Skip another few years, I had moved and stopped participating in La Leache. I figured on all of my children latching wrong. I think with each child though my body grew more and more accustomed to my babies latch, because it was easier. I was down to using the small tubes of Lansinoh.
  Skip two more years and I had another daughter and did not even have to use Lansinoh. I was able to get through the discomfort at the beginning, and went on to nurse another year and a half.
  Skip another two years and we come to our latest little girl. I will admit I was more uncomfortable this time around, then the last two. I did used a little tube of Lansinoh, but I only used about half. I tried several different holds, but I just delt with it until my body adjusted. She is now three months old and I am hoping, striving to strictly breastfeed for the first year, no baby food at all! I have wanted to, but never made it a full year.
  What I am trying to convey is, I am a mom of 10 children (8 here on earth) and I have and am currently nursing my sixth child and even I still have trouble. Breastfeeding does not come natural, even though it is the most natural way to feed your baby. It can be very difficult in the beginning, but so very well worth it. My husband loves that I nurse, not just because it is healthier and saves a lot of money, but because he doesn't have to wake up in the middle of the night ;-)
 I love nursing for so many reasons, the bonding that it helps create, the health benefits are numerous, the ease of traveling or just going somewhere I mean lets face it God created a woman's breast to feed her baby.
 I hope that all of you mothers remember, whether you nurse your baby three days or three years+ everyday is a gift to your child, and a blessing to you.

I am sad to admit, one of my faults quickly got out of hand

  As much as I do not want to admit this, I have a huge character flaw. I tend to be judgemental. Which in my Christian life leads me to be legalistic:

(1. strict adherence, or the principle of strict adherence, to law or prescription, especially to the letter rather than the spirit.

2. Theology -

a. the doctrine that salvation is gained through good works.

b.the judging of conduct in terms of adherence to precise laws.)

if I am not careful. I think this may be due to my never feeling good enough, which I still struggle with at times. I know that this is not the way the Lord wants us to be. I am only human and I make mistakes to, despite my not liking to admit it. Here goes...

 When I was pregnant the only thing that was comfortable on my growing belly was a skirt (remember I went through the skirt thing last year). And my second eldest daughter had chosen all on her own to stop wearing pants and wear skirts.

  I loved the way she looked in them, and I loved the way all of the other "modest skirt wearing" girls looked. They looked sweet, innocent and pure, set apart. And after all aren't we supposed to be set apart as Christians? At least that's what I told myself. I thought people would look at our family and see a God fearing good girl kind of family. As you can already tell it was not taking me long to turn this into a "religious" thing. I knew other families that felt this way, shouldn't I?

  I had not previously felt that God had commanded us to wear skirts. I thought that maybe it was that we were growing in our walk, and this was a way we could be more holy, and to let the world know we were. Eight months later, I didn't really feel any more holy. I felt plain, bored with my appearance. I felt like this and the whole long hair no make up stuff was more separating me from God because I felt tempted, and it only set more rules and regulations to follow. I felt like my pure love for the Lord and my relationship with Him was actually not growing at all.

 After much reading on the topic, I learned several things. First, the people of biblical times all wore tunics and robes (ok so I already knew this one) matter fact many Middle Eastern people still do to this day. Pants were not even really worn until the 1600's. Plus there was a tribe that, before war women would dress in the warriors garments and the men in the women's and preform some sort of ceremony. Not to mention transvestism is not a new thing. I know that skirts tend to be a girl/woman thing in modern society from restroom signs to stick figures, but that's more modern. Plus heels were originally invented for men, yet it is not a woman's shoe. Purse like bags were originally invented for men as well, yet you don't see men carrying a bag with them everywhere they go. So why are these things religiously accepted, yet pants are frowned upon by so many.

  Don't get me wrong, I love skirts, I love seeing my girls in skirts. I do think that it makes a woman look feminine. I do not think that people are wrong for wearing only skirts, if this is a conviction, then they should. I also still feel very strong about modesty. I do feel though that a girl can still look like a girl and be modest in a pair pants. I do think it would be weird for a man to wear a ball gown and a woman to wear a tux, but...

 I spent a lot of money converting our wardrobe, however I do want to stress I do love skirts and maxi dresses still. I will not be running out buying a bunch of pants and church is always a dress or skirt day I think, but I just had forgotten that God loved me in my pants and I grew closer to him in pants and with short hair (I do love long hair though) and when I wore makeup. I think that, not for all people but for myself, that I can be misled into feeling that I must be holy by my works and this simply is not so, it is by Grace alone that I am made worthy.

 Now I want to share one of my favorite photo's that I had been to embarrassed to share because two of my daughters had shorts on.

  

 

Wordless Wednesday